Hopping my way to full cave...

[vioch]

@Manatee Diverhe standard DIR style rigging is designed for use with a DPV, not necessarily with kicking.

Not exactly - for ease of bottle dropping, picking them up and rotation...

 

[rjack321]

Not exactly - for ease of bottle dropping, picking them up and rotation...

and being able to verify your switches, plus not get in the way of the left post's spg, plus have 2 stages on the left, plus be standardized to fit any buddy working a huge project, plus be easily cut away, and also not some custom diver specific rigging. Pretty much everything except specifically for DPV riding.

While its more than stood the test of time, back when DIR stage rigging was getting worked out, some of the alternatives had: a metal ring around the neck with a bolt snap on it (all metal connection) a metal to metal connection at the tail (again metal to metal), the bottle was a steel 72, and instead of 3" mailbox MOD numbers it had a single red and white sticker that said "custom gas mix" on it with some spaces to write in the MOD with a grease pencil. The "DIR" snaps, cord, and hose plus 3" MOD numbers was developed as an alternative to THAT!

 

[tbone1004]

Not exactly - for ease of bottle dropping, picking them up and rotation...

the compromise to handle all of that was the extra drag of a sloppy carry position, which is negated by the DPV. A loop bungee fixes the first bottle, and bungee instead of line on the bottom can fix the rest of them.

 

[Dominick Gheesling]

Just echoing that my first reaction to stage diving was F@ck This!!!

And I am one of those divers that drastically notices the slightest change in my rig and has to dive with it a few times to become comfortable and proficient.

I honestly can't remember how short a distance I went but I know it didn't seem worth all of the effort.

I do remember the first time clipping on a stage was easy; no fumbling with clips, accidentally clipping to snap ring on pressure gauge, etc.

One thing that I think has helped me is moving my left waist D-ring forward a bit to accommodate wearing a small bottle for drysuit inflation. I think I always had the D-ring too far back which made things a bit difficult (I'm still Backmount).

The other two things that seemed to help most are Practice and Moving slowly and deliberately.

Now clipping on a stage just feels like putting on the kit and I sort of feel odd when not carrying one at the beginning of the dive.

Hopefully Headed into the Badlands in Madison next week. That'll be an o2 bottle, two nitrox stages, and a little normoxic backgas

 

[helodriver87]

Just echoing that my first reaction to stage diving was F@ck This!!!

And I am one of those divers that drastically notices the slightest change in my rig and has to dive with it a few times to become comfortable and proficient.

I honestly can't remember how short a distance I went but I know it didn't seem worth all of the effort.

I do remember the first time clipping on a stage was easy; no fumbling with clips, accidentally clipping to snap ring on pressure gauge, etc.

One thing that I think has helped me is moving my left waist D-ring forward a bit to accommodate wearing a small bottle for drysuit inflation. I think I always had the D-ring too far back which made things a bit difficult (I'm still Backmount).

The other two things that seemed to help most are Practice and Moving slowly and deliberately.

Now clipping on a stage just feels like putting on the kit and I sort of feel odd when not carrying one at the beginning of the dive.

Hopefully Headed into the Badlands in Madison next week. That'll be an o2 bottle, two nitrox stages, and a little normoxic backgas

Badlands is super cool. I think I hit around 130 there, so 21/35 is a solid choice. I typically drop the first stage at the big rock where the line bends 90 degrees just a bit before the potters jump and push the second one through rocky. Nice to have it on the backside, because **** sharing gas through RH.

 

[Dominick Gheesling]

Badlands is super cool. I think I hit around 130 there, so 21/35 is a solid choice. I typically drop the first stage at the big rock where the line bends 90 degrees just a bit before the potters jump and push the second one through rocky. Nice to have it on the backside, because **** sharing gas through RH.

We're actually headed the other way through the Crossunder Tunnel.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Well I think it went better today, took a stage into Mayan Blue, my first attempt outside of the class.

I used the rigging that Protec provided, which worked pretty well considering that it wasn't adjusted for me at all. I might experiment with this setup when I get home.

Dove with @Norwegian Cave Diver we started on the B tunnel and jumped over to the A tunnel turning at the end of the A tunnel line. Even with my conservative reduced thirds at 800 psi, I breathed off the stage for about 20 minutes. And we were down there long enough to rack up a small deco obligation. So I will admit this stage thing might not be so stupid.

I did find that I was a little underweighted particularly below the halocline, I think I had the weight wrong from last time. Probably need to add a 2lb weight.

 

[helodriver87]

So I will admit this stage thing might not be so stupid.

It's happening. You're about 1 month of stage diving away from refusing to dive without one unless it just REALLY doesn't make sense with the plan. They add a ton of value when used properly. Even if it's just the ability to break a gas share.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

It was a good first dive together. Wednesday we are planning Chan Hol.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Finally hit my 200th dive today. I didn't get the video I intended to get with a little sign saying 200, but it was a fun dive none the less, got to spend 30 minutes swimming around the bells of Cenote Zapote.

Wes Skiles or Jonathan Bird I am not, at least not yet.

It was a good first dive together. Wednesday we are planning Chan Hol.

Looking forward to it.